Restricted content publishing with search engine registry

ABSTRACT

A processor-implemented method is provided. The method may include providing a content registry with at least one application program interface (API) to manage a plurality of entries stored in the content registry. The method may also include providing access to the plurality of entries by a pre-authorized search engine to the content registry in response to a search requested by an authorized requester.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of computers, andmore particularly to search engines.

Search engines (SEs), such as Google (Google® and all Google®-basedtrademarks and logos are trademarks of Google and/or its affiliates) orYahoo® (Yahoo® and all Yahoo®-based trademarks and logos are trademarksof Yahoo! Inc. and/or its affiliates) typically use several techniquesto crawl or index web pages. Such techniques basically follow links onpages to other pages. Then the pages are sorted by content (and otherfactors) and this information is indexed. Algorithms and ranking is thenused to deliver the best results for search queries. Some SEs such asGoogle® also enable content owners to use Rich snippets (e.g.,microdata, microformats, RDFa, and Data Highlighter) which are the fewlines of text that appear under every search result and are designed togive users a sense for what is on the web page and why it's relevant totheir query.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a processor-implemented provided. Themethod may include providing a content registry with at least oneapplication program interface (API) to manage a plurality of entriesstored in the content registry. The method may also include providingaccess to the plurality of entries by a pre-authorized search engine tothe content registry in response to a search requested by an authorizedrequester.

According to another embodiment, a computer system is provided. Thecomputer system may include one or more processors, one or morecomputer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, wherebythe computer system is capable of performing a method. The method mayinclude providing a content registry with at least one applicationprogram interface (API) to manage a plurality of entries stored in thecontent registry. The method may also include providing access to theplurality of entries by a pre-authorized search engine to the contentregistry in response to a search requested by an authorized requester.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program product isprovided. The computer program product may include one or morecomputer-readable storage devices and program instructions stored on atleast one of the one or me tangible storage devices, the programinstructions executable by a processor. The computer program product mayinclude program instructions to provide a content registry with at leastone application program interface (API) to manage a plurality of entriesstored in the content registry. The computer program product may alsoinclude program instructions to provide access to the plurality ofentries by a pre-authorized search engine to the content registry inresponse to a search requested by an authorized requester.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings arenot to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating oneskilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction withthe detailed description. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer environment according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary illustration of the components associated withthe Restricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Programaccording to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3, is an operational flowchart illustrating the steps carried outby a program for restricted content publishing with search engineregistry according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an overview of the method stepsdescribed in FIG. 3 according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of internal and external components ofcomputers and servers depicted in FIG. 1 according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustrative cloud computing environmentincluding the computer system depicted in FIG. 1, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of functional layers of the illustrative cloudcomputing environment of FIG. 6, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known featuresand techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresented embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field ofcomputers, and more particularly to search engines. The followingdescribed exemplary embodiments provide a system, method and programproduct to, among other things, publish restricted content (i.e., acontent that requires a pre-authorization to access it) with searchengine registry. Therefore, the present embodiment has the capacity toimprove the technical field of search engines by discovering weblinkswhere the source of the links is inaccessible to search engines (SEs).More specifically, the present embodiment may enable the content beingsearched to be visible to the public domain or at targeted requesters(e.g., users) so the SE is enabled to quickly list these links as partof the search results returned to the requester.

As previously described, Search engines (SEs) typically use severaltechniques to crawl or index web pages. Such techniques basically followlinks on pages to other pages. Then the pages are sorted by content (andother factors) and this information is indexed. Algorithms and rankingis then used to deliver the best results for search queries. Some SEsalso enable content owners to use Rich snippets which are the few linesof text that appear under every search result and are designed to giveusers a sense for what is on the web page and why it's relevant to theirquery.

Today content owners have to expose all relevant links through theirpublic site in order for it to be discovered and indexed by a SE.However, several use cases exist where content owners may want to exposeweb links to the public domain or at targeted users as part of thesearch results when certain queries or tags are used. For example,military operations or strategic research initiatives may want to exposelinks to documents that can be searched and downloaded by partnerorganizations but not host the content in the public domain.Additionally, there are commercial examples where premium or paidmembers would want to search for content specifically targeted at theirlevel of membership without having to login to the site in order tomanually locate it. Currently, there are no mechanisms to access orinclude in search engines any “restricted” (i.e., requiringpre-authorization to access) links. In some scenarios, organization likeIEEE, ACM, etc., may create public web pages with just abstracts orshort descriptions or articles whereas the full article will berestricted. In these cases, additional web pages need to be maintainedfor each of the articles in their internal websites or databases whichmay require more resources and be cumbersome to maintain.

As such, it may be advantageous, among other things to providerestricted content publishing with search engine registry, whereby therestricted content may be restricted or unrestricted and requirespre-authorization for a user to access the content. The presentembodiment may provide a way of discovering web links (which can includelinks to any type of data, restricted content, unrestricted content,content which may reside behind a corporate firewall, content thatrequires pre-authorization to access, etc.) where the source of thelinks is completely inaccessible to search engines (SE). The presence ofthe content (in the form of web links) being searched can be visible tothe public domain or at targeted users so the method enables the SE toquickly list these links as part of the search results returned to theuser. Benefits of the present embodiment may include the ability todiscover these links quickly, avoiding the need to spend a considerableamount of time searching or viewing pages manually. Additionally,content owners may expose links to a SE without having to include it ontheir public sites. For example, premium or paid members may be able tolocate content through a SE without content owners having to provideaccess or rich snippets to the SE.

According to at least one implementation, the present embodiment mayprovide a links registry (i.e., a content registry) which is accessibleto content owners for contributing links relating to their domain andSEs to consume the information and return such information as part ofsearch queries. Additionally, the content owners may be able to updatethe registry using an application program interface (API). The registryupdate may include the links and their relevant metadata using, forexample, an XML/JSON post. Then the SEs may subscribe to the linksregistry to receive new content when it is updated in order for theinformation to be utilized in the SEs indexing or caching solutionswithout having to crawl the web pages as a result of the contentpossibly being restricted and access not existing for the SE. As such,when a search query is executed and relevant information exists in theregistry based on tags, keywords, or metadata etc., the SE may returnthe relevant information as part of the result set allowing for quickdiscovery of the links.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, methodand program product to enable restricted content publishing with searchengine registry.

According to at least one implementation, the present embodiment mayallow a user to use a search engine, such as Google®, to accessrestricted information (i.e., restricted or unrestricted informationthat requires pre-authorization for a user to access it) within aprivate domain, such as a corporate domain after identifying the user ashaving appropriate permissions to access the restricted information. Forexample, an internal corporate article or presentation may be madeavailable in both slide share (i.e., on the public domain) and on acorporate domain, (such as IBM's w3 internal corporate domain). However,the corporate domain version may contain additional restrictedinformation. As such, the present embodiment may allow an authorizeduser of the restricted information to search for the content using anexternal search engine, such as Google® and using the links registry ormetadata may identify the user searching for the content as anauthorized user within the corporate domain and therefore, expose therestricted links within the corporate domain in the search results(possibly in a separate section) for user consumption.

Additionally, a corporation, such as IBM or Apple may share restrictedcontent (behind a firewall) with business partners that have authorizedaccess to the restricted content. For example, Apple may allow therestricted content to be searchable through a public search engine, suchas Google®. As such, using the links registry or metadata, Google® mayidentify the user as an Apple employee searching for the content and assuch, expose the restricted content in the search results forconsumption by the user authorized user. Furthermore, only the link andassociated metadata (may be a short description) are exposed. Therefore,the full content may still have restricted access. As such, by providingthe link in the registry, the present embodiment is publishing thepresence of a document or page, however, access to it is stillrestricted. For example, with respect to an Association for ComputingMachinery (ACM) journal article, the link to the article may be exposedto conventional search engines, however, the access to article islimited to ACM members or other paid subscribers.

Furthermore, some journal articles, such as the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) or the Association for ComputingMachinery (ACM) are available only to their members or paid subscribers.Currently, such journal articles share the title, ISBN #, abstract, etc.in public websites for search engines to discover. However, rather thanhaving to share such information, they may be able to provide “trustedlink information” to Google®, for example, without maintaining publicabstract pages. Also, based on the same concept, the present embodimentmay allow airlines or retailers to provide special offers to exclusiveclub members, such as Platinum or Gold Club members.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer environment 100 inaccordance with one embodiment is depicted. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include a computer 102 with a processor 104 and adata storage device 106 that is enabled to run a software program 108and a Restricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program116A. The networked computer environment 100 may also include a server114 that is enabled to run a Restricted Content Publishing with SearchEngine Registry Program 116B that may interact with a database 112 and acommunication network 110. The networked computer environment 100 mayinclude a plurality of computer 102 and servers 114, only one of whichis shown. The communication network may include various types ofcommunication networks, such as a wide area network (WAN), local areanetwork (LAN), a telecommunication network, a wireless network, a publicswitched network and/or a satellite network. It should be appreciatedthat FIG. 1 provides only an illustration of one implementation and doesnot imply any limitations with regard to the environments in whichdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

The client computer 102 may communicate with the Restricted ContentPublishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116B running on servercomputer 114 via the communications network 110. The communicationsnetwork 110 may include connections, such as wire, wirelesscommunication links, or fiber optic cables. As will be discussed withreference to FIG. 5, server computer 114 may include internal components502 a and external components 504 a, respectively, and client computer102 may include internal components 502 b and external components 504 b,respectively. Client computer 102 may be, for example, a mobile device,a telephone, a personal digital assistant, a netbook, a laptop computer,a tablet computer, a desktop computer, or any type of computing devicescapable of running a program, accessing a network, and accessing adatabase 112. According to various implementations of the presentembodiment, the Restricted Content Publishing with Search EngineRegistry Program 116A, 116B may interact with a database 112 that may beembedded in various storage devices, such as, but not limited to amobile device 102, a networked server 114, or a cloud storage service.

As previously described, the client computer 102 may access theRestricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116B,running on server computer 114 via the communications network 110. Forexample, a user using a client computer 102 and a search engine, such asGoogle®, may be allowed to access restricted information within acorporate domain after being identified as having appropriatepermissions to access the restricted information. For example (aspreviously described), an internal corporate article presentation may bemade available in both slide share (i.e., on the public domain) and on acorporate domain. However, the corporate domain version may containadditional restricted information. As such, the Restricted ContentPublishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116A, 116B may allow anauthorized user of the restricted information to search for the contentusing an external search engine, such as Google® and using the linksregistry or metadata may identify the user searching for the content asan authorized user within the corporate domain and therefore, expose therestricted links within the corporate domain in the search results tothe user. According to the present embodiment, only the link andmetadata or short description may be exposed through the registry(enough for the SEs to index/tag for searching). The Restricted ContentPublishing with Search Engine Registry method is explained in moredetail below with respect to FIGS. 2-4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an exemplary illustration 200 of the componentsassociated with the Restricted Content Publishing with Search EngineRegistry Program 116A, 116B in accordance with one embodiment isdepicted. The Restricted Content Publishing with Search Engine RegistryProgram 116A, 116B may include an Agreement 202. The Agreement 202 isestablished between content providers, such as IBM and search providers,such as Google® or Yahoo® to ensure the content is from a trustedsource. As such, the content owners may use an application programinterface (API) 204 (i.e., a “plug in” to facilitate integration of newfeatures into existing applications) to post new content in a differentformat to a Links Registry 206. According to at least oneimplementation, the Links Registry 206 registry may accept incomingrequests, perform relevant validations, spam prevention, etc. and storethe content in a database 112 (FIG. 1). The Links Registry 206 can behosted by the SE or any other 3rd party provider. Additionally, theLinks Registry 206 will notify or push new content to subscribing SEswhen content has been posted.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an operational flowchart 300 illustrating thesteps carried out by a program for restricted content publishing withsearch engine registry according to at least one embodiment is depicted.As previously described, the present embodiment may allow an authorizeduser of restricted or unrestricted information to search for the contentusing an external search engine. Then, using the Links Registry 206(FIG. 2) or metadata, the Restricted Content Publishing with SearchEngine Registry Program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1) may identify the usersearching for the content as an authorized user within the corporatedomain and therefore, expose the restricted links within the corporatedomain in the search results to the user.

Therefore with respect to FIG. 3, at 302 an agreement is establishedbetween content providers. For example, an agreement may be establishedbetween a content provider, such as IBM and search engines, such asGoogle® or Yahoo® to ensure the content is from a trusted source.According to at least one implementation, such an agreement may be amonetized service.

Next at 304, content owners will use an API to post a new content formatto a registry which includes the links and relevant metadata. As such,content owners may use an API to post the content in a format such asExtensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)format to the Links Registry 206 (FIG. 2). The content format includesthe links and relevant metadata associated with the content. XML is amarkup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in aformat which is both human-readable and machine-readable. JSON is anopen standard format that uses human-readable text to transmit dataobjects consisting of attribute—value pairs. It is used primarily totransmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative toXML.

Then at 306, the Links Registry 206 (FIG. 2) will accept incomingrequests, perform relevant validations, spam prevention, etc. and storethe content in a database 112 (FIG. 1). According to at least oneimplementation, the Links Registry 206 (FIG. 2) can be hosted by the SEor any other 3rd party provider.

Next at 308, the Links Registry 206 (FIG. 2) will notify or push the newcontent to subscribing SEs when the content has been posted. Then at310, the SEs will accept the new incoming changes into their indexing orcaching solutions. As such, the SEs will not have to crawl pages sinceaccess now exists to the restricted content. Optionally, the contents ofthe registry may be fully open to the commercial SEs so that they canuse this information for their internal indexing. As such, the presentembodiment does not have to “push” or receive “notification” by theregistry to SEs. The SEs can include the registry as part of theircrawl/search/match.

Next at 312, the SEs will return these web links and relevant contentprovided for search queries to targeted users based on the links'metadata.

An example registry post in XML (JSON or anther format can also be used)may include the following:

1. The domain it should be associated with, when it should be publishedand if there is an expiration date for the entry.

2. Tags and Description can be used by the SE for index/caching purposesas well as all the other fields.

3. URL is the link needed to be injected into the search results whichcould be restricted links to content behind a corporate firewall,premium site, etc.

4. Netrange would be the targeted users/domain for which the links wouldbe exposed in search results.

5. Results element can be used to optionally inject any otherinformation with the link into the search results e.g. branding, etc.

An example registry post in XML may be illustrated as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8” ?> <register domain=“ www.ibm.com ”publish-on=“2014-05-31” expires-on= “2015-01-31” > <post><tags>collaboration,blueflex</tags><url>https://w3.ibm.com/restricted/blueflex/index.html</url><netrange>192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 </netrange> <resultsrender=“true” > <description>Information relating to the new release ofconnections code name BlueFlex.</description><category>Software</category> <author>IBM</author><feature><![CDATA[<h3>BlueFlex is here!</h3><imgsrc=‘http://www.ibm.com/public/blueflex.jpg’ />]]></feature> </results></post> </register>

It may be appreciated that FIG. 3 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to howdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements. For example, content owners may optionally provide shortdescription, tags or other relevant information to be used in the searchand displaying as part of search results.

According to at least one implementation, the present embodiment mayprovide a way to register restricted content for search engine reportingwhich includes providing a content registry (i.e., a links registry)with interfaces, such as an application programming interface (API) tocreate, read, update, delete (i.e., CRUD or change) entries in thecontent registry whereby the entries include links and metadata for therestricted content. As previously explained, the present embodiment mayprovide access to the entries by a pre-authorized search engine (SE) tothe content registry and may further validate entries input to theregistry before storing the entries and return the entries to thepre-authorized search engine based on matching criteria selected from agroup consisting of tags, keywords, and metadata.

The method may further include providing an interface for automaticnotification of changes to the entries to the pre-authorized searchengine to facilitate re-indexing or caching of the entries by thepre-authorized search engine using the latest content from the registry.The entries may be stored in the registry in an interchange format (forexample, XML, JSON). The pre-authorized search engine may be determinedby an agreement (i.e., contract) between the restricted contentproviders and the search engine. Furthermore, the agreement may haverules for data exposure based on user criteria. Therefore, therestricted content and web links may be offered as part of the searchresults only to target search engine users specified by the agreement.As such, the targeted search engine users are identified throughmechanisms selected from a group consisting of single sign on tokens(e.g. using openid or SAML), access control tokens (e.g. IEEEauthentication token or partner authentication token), OAuth tokens(e.g. Google® OAuth tokens), and source network address (e.g., IBMintranet users may present source IP addresses for known public gatewaysbelonging to IBM labs and specified in the agreement). The authorizeduser may be identified by the search engine (SE) through the use of adecentralized authentication and authorization protocols between thesearch engine (SE) and the restricted content provider acting on thelinks and metadata associated with the restricted content and accordingto terms and conditions included in the agreement between the restrictedcontent provider and the search engine (SE).

Furthermore, some advantages of the present embodiment may include:restricted links and/or links to content that may exist behind acorporate firewall to be made searchable through a SE allowing for quickdiscovery; content owners may expose links to a SE without having toinclude these links on public sites in order for the links to bediscovered through existing crawling/indexing algorithms or not havingto provide additional public web pages by content owners; optionally,content owners may provide short description, tags or other relevantinformation to be used in the search and displaying as part of searchresults; and content owners may make these links visible (through theSE) for targeted users only (e.g., employees or business partners).

The present embodiment is focused on restricted content and allowingpre-authorized public search engines to utilize only the metadataassociated with the content which is stored in the registry along withrestricted URLs pointing to the actual content. Furthermore, the presentembodiment enables the commercial search engines to search and reportweb pages which may be restricted to a subset of and audience, such asemployees of a specific company. As such the existence and sourcelocation of the pages and documents may be reported to authorized usersof such information, however, the access to the actual pages anddocuments themselves may not be provided. More specifically, the publicsearch engine may not have access to the whole content but only tometadata associated with the content for indexing and tagging purposes.As such, the actual content may never be tagged or indexed. The publicsearch engine is used to expose only restricted links to the actualcontent as part of search results. Additionally, the restricted URLs andmetadata in the search result are exposed only to targeted usersidentified and access may be controlled using different mechanisms suchas single sign on tokens (e.g., using openedID or SAML), access controltokens (e.g., IEEE authentication token or partner authenticationtokens), OAuth tokens (e.g., Google OAuth tokens), and source networkaddresses (e.g., IBM Intranet users will present source IP addresses forknown public gateways belonging to IBM labs and specified in theagreement). Furthermore, the present embodiment may target the publicsearch engine and notify the pre authorized public search engine whenresults are changed or contributed to the registry by content owners.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary illustration 400 of an overview ofthe method steps described in FIG. 3 according to at least oneembodiment is depicted. A user using a client computer 102 and a searchengine, such as Google®, may be allowed to access restricted informationwithin a corporate domain after being identified as having appropriatepermissions 404 to access the restricted information. As such withrespect to FIG. 4, content owners may use an API 204 to post a newcontent format, such as XML 402 to a registry 206 which includes thelinks and relevant metadata. As such, content owners may use an API topost the content in a format such as Extensible Markup Language (XML)402 format to the Links Registry 206. As previously described, theRestricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116A,116B (FIG. 1) may prevent 406 a user from accessing the restrictedcontent information or allow 404 an authorized user of the restrictedinformation to search for the content using an external search engine,such as Google® and using the links registry 206 and metadata mayidentify and validate 404 the user searching for the content as anauthorized user 404 within the corporate domain and therefore, exposethe restricted links within the corporate domain in the search resultsto the user. As such, the publisher 410 may publish the restrictedcontent with search engine registry in the search results to theauthorized user. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, theRestricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116A,116B (FIG. 1) may register links to websites and as such, allow thecontents of restricted information to be searchable and accessible bynormal search engines to authorized users.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of internal and external components ofcomputers depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that FIG.5 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not implyany limitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

Data processing system 502, 504 is representative of any electronicdevice capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Dataprocessing system 502, 504 may be representative of a smart phone, acomputer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented bydata processing system 502, 504 include, but are not limited to,personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thickclients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, anddistributed cloud computing environments that include any of the abovesystems or devices.

User client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and network server 114 (FIG. 1) mayinclude respective sets of internal components 502 a,b and externalcomponents 504 a,b illustrated in FIG. 5. Each of the sets of internalcomponents 502 include one or more processors 520, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 522 and one or more computer-readable ROMs 524 onone or more buses 526, and one or more operating systems 528 and one ormore computer-readable tangible storage devices 530. The one or moreoperating systems 528 and the Software Program 108 (FIG. 1) and theRestricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116A(FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and the Restricted ContentPublishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116B (FIG. 1) in networkserver 114 (FIG. 1) are stored on one or more of the respectivecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 530 for execution by one ormore of the respective processors 520 via one or more of the respectiveRAMs 522 (which typically include cache memory). In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 5, each of the computer-readable tangible storagedevices 530 is a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive.Alternatively, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices530 is a semiconductor storage device such as ROM 524, EPROM, flashmemory or any other computer-readable tangible storage device that canstore a computer program and digital information.

Each set of internal components 502 a,b also includes a R/W drive orinterface 532 to read from and write to one or more portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 538 such as a CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk orsemiconductor storage device. A software program, such as the SoftwareProgram 108 (FIG. 1) and the Restricted Content Publishing with SearchEngine Registry Program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1) can be stored on one or moreof the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices538, read via the respective R/W drive or interface 532 and loaded intothe respective hard drive 530.

Each set of internal components 502 a,b also includes network adaptersor interfaces 536 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fiinterface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired orwireless communication links. The Software Program 108 (FIG. 1) and theRestricted Content Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116A(FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and the Restricted ContentPublishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116B (FIG. 1) in networkserver 114 (FIG. 1) can be downloaded to client computer 102 (FIG. 1)and network server 114 (FIG. 1) from an external computer via a network(for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, wide areanetwork) and respective network adapters or interfaces 536. From thenetwork adapters or interfaces 536, the Software Program 108 (FIG. 1)and the Restricted Content Publishing with Search Engine RegistryProgram 116A (FIG. 1) in client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and the RestrictedContent Publishing with Search Engine Registry Program 116B (FIG. 1) innetwork server 114 (FIG. 1) are loaded into the respective hard drive530. The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers.

Each of the sets of external components 504 a,b can include a computerdisplay monitor 544, a keyboard 542, and a computer mouse 534. Externalcomponents 504 a,b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards,touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each ofthe sets of internal components 502 a,b also includes device drivers 540to interface to computer display monitor 544, keyboard 542 and computermouse 534. The device drivers 540, R/W drive or interface 532 andnetwork adapter or interface 536 comprise hardware and software (storedin storage device 530 and/or ROM 524).

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrative cloud computing environment 600 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 600 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 600A, desktop computer 600B, laptop computer600C, and/or automobile computer system 600N may communicate. Nodes 100may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 600 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 600A-Nshown in FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 100 and cloud computing environment 600 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 7, a set of functional abstraction layers 700provided by cloud computing environment 600 (FIG. 6) is shown. It shouldbe understood in advance that the components, layers, and functionsshown in FIG. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments ofthe invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layersand corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 7010 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers; storagedevices; networks and networking components. In some embodiments,software components include network application server software.

Virtualization layer 7012 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 7014 may provide the functionsdescribed below. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricingprovide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA. A Restricted Content Publishing with SearchEngine Registry Program may allow an authorized user of the restrictedinformation to search for the content using an external search engineand using the links registry or metadata may identify the user searchingfor the content as an authorized user within the corporate domain andtherefore, expose the restricted links within the corporate domain inthe search results to the user.

Workloads layer 7016 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; and transactionprocessing.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system comprising: one or moreprocessors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices, and program instructionsstored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for executionby at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of theone or more memories, wherein the computer system is capable ofperforming a method comprising: providing, by a processor, an onlinecontent registry with at least one application program interface (API)to manage a plurality of online entries stored in the online contentregistry, wherein the API comprises: receiving the plurality of onlineentries; validating the plurality of received online entries; storingthe validated received online entries in the online content registry,wherein the stored entries comprises a plurality of metadata associatedwith a plurality of restricted content that is to be accessed by anauthorized requester and comprises a plurality of restricted online weblinks to the plurality of restricted content that is to be accessed bythe authorized requester, wherein the plurality of metadata includes atleast one short description describing the plurality of restrictedcontent, and wherein the authorized requester is identified by thepre-authorized search engine through use of a decentralizedauthentication; pushing the stored online entries in the online contentregistry to a plurality of indexing or caching solutions associated witha pre-authorized external online search engine, wherein the pushedentries comprises access to the plurality of metadata associated with aplurality of restricted content and comprises access to the plurality ofrestricted web links, and wherein the pre-authorized external onlinesearch engine is determined by an agreement between a content providerand a search engine provider; detecting at least one change associatedwith the pushed stored online entries in the online content registry;and automatically sending a notification of the at least one detectedchange associated with the pushed stored online entries in the onlinecontent registry to the pre-authorized external search engine; andproviding access to the plurality of stored entries by thepre-authorized external online search engine to the online contentregistry in response to an online search requested by the authorizedrequester and in response to a plurality of relevant material stored inthe online content registry matching the online search requested by theauthorized user, wherein the matching is based on a plurality of userdata, a plurality of tags, a plurality of keywords, and the plurality ofmetadata associated with each entry stored within the online contentregistry, and wherein providing access comprises displaying, via agraphical user interface, a plurality of web links that includes boththe plurality of restricted content and a plurality of unrestrictedcontent and the at least one short description describing the pluralityof restricted content.
 2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein theplurality of entries is managed by using the at least one API to create,read, update, and delete at least one entry within the plurality ofentries.
 3. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising:providing an automatic notification of changes to at least one entrywithin the plurality of entries to the pre-authorized search engine. 4.The computer system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of entries arestored in the content registry in an interchange format.
 5. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein the agreement comprises a plurality of rulesfor data exposure based on a plurality of requester criteria.
 6. Thecomputer system of claim 5, wherein the authorized requester isidentified by a plurality of authorization protocols between the contentprovider and the search engine provider according to a plurality ofterms and conditions included in the agreement.
 7. A computer programproduct comprising: one or more computer-readable storage devices andprogram instructions stored on at least one of the one or more tangiblestorage devices, the program instructions executable by a processor, theprogram instructions comprising: program instructions to provide, by aprocessor, an online content registry with at least one applicationprogram interface (API to manage a plurality of online entries stored inthe online content registry, wherein the API comprises: programinstructions to receive the plurality of online entries; validating theplurality of received online entries; storing the validated receivedonline entries in the online content registry, wherein the storedentries comprises a plurality of metadata associated with a plurality ofrestricted content that is to be accessed by an authorized requester andcomprises a plurality of restricted online web links to the plurality ofrestricted content that is to be accessed by the authorized requester,wherein the plurality of metadata includes at least one shortdescription describing the plurality of restricted content, and whereinthe authorized requester is identified by the pre-authorized searchengine through use of a decentralized authentication; pushing the storedonline entries in the online content registry to a plurality of indexingor caching solutions associated with a pre-authorized external onlinesearch engine, wherein the pushed entries comprises access to theplurality of metadata associated with a plurality of restricted contentand comprises access to the plurality of restricted web links, andwherein the pre-authorized external online search engine is determinedby an agreement between a content provider and a search engine provider;detecting at least one change associated with the pushed stored onlineentries in the online content registry; and automatically sending anotification of the at least one detected change associated with thepushed stored online entries in the online content registry to thepre-authorized external search engine; and providing access to theplurality of stored entries by the pre-authorized external online searchengine to the online content registry in response to an online searchrequested by the authorized requester and in response to a plurality ofrelevant material stored in the online content registry matching theonline search requested by the authorized user, wherein the matching isbased on a plurality of user data, a plurality of tags, a plurality ofkeywords, and the plurality of metadata associated with each entrystored within the online content registry, and wherein providing accesscomprises displaying, via a graphical user interface, a plurality of weblinks that includes both the plurality of restricted content and aplurality of unrestricted content and the at least one short descriptiondescribing the plurality of restricted content.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 7, wherein the plurality of entries is managed by usingthe at least one API to create, read, update, and delete at least oneentry within the plurality of entries.
 9. The computer program productof claim 7, further comprising: program instructions to provide anautomatic notification of changes to at least one entry within theplurality of entries to the pre-authorized search engine.
 10. Thecomputer program product of claim 7, wherein the plurality of entriesare stored in the content registry in an interchange format.
 11. Thecomputer program product of claim 7, wherein the agreement comprises aplurality of rules for data exposure based on a plurality of requestercriteria.